Device for practicing and teaching the correct swinging of golf clubs



Feb. 1, 1944. w, CHAPMAN 2,340,793

VDEVICE FOR PRACTISING AND TEACHING THE CORRE T SWINGING OF GOLF CLUBS Filed Jan. 16, 1942 ElLLaJQ\ fzyen tar Patented Feb. 1, 1944 DEVICE FOR PRACTICING AND TEACHING THE CORRECT SWINGING OF GOLF CLUBS Arthur William Chapman, Putney, London, England Application January 16, 1942, Serial No. 427,050 In Great Britain February 3, 1941 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for use in practicing and teaching the correct method of swinging a golf club, particularly adapted for practicing and teaching putting.

It is known that in order to putt a golf ball accurately, the hands should be held correctly and that the club head should be moved and followed through in a straight line as viewed from vertically above and without turning the club face off the line either during the back swing or the forward swing.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a device for use in exercising and training the hands, wrists and forearms to work in complete harmony, and in the required manher, the device being adapted to indicate that the club is being held incorrectly by the resultant difficulty in using the device.

The advantage of apparatus according to this invention over known apparatus of the same general character is that playing conditions are substantially exactly reproduced. This is not the case in known apparatus in which, although actual golf clubs are used, the player, irrespective of his stature or playing peculiarities, is constrained to follow the arc of swing imposed upon him by the apparatus. Other known apparatus in which actual golf clubs are replaced by carriages or guides running on rails and fitted with dummy shafts not only suffer from the above disadvantage but also from the further disadvantage that the dummy shaft is arranged to swivel relatively to the carriage or guide.

According to the present invention, apparatus for use in practicing and teaching the correct method of swinging golf clubs, comprises a straight or downwardly curved guide rail or a guide wire supported at a desired distance above the floor and a guide which is provided on the club head and which is incapable of movement relatively to the club shaft, the said guide having spaced limbs or parts adapted to engage on opposite sides of the rail or wire and to guide the club head in its swinging movements, while permitting the club head to be moved relatively to the rail or wire in a curved path in order to accommodate the arc of swing.

The said apparatus may comprise a straight or downwardly-curved guide rail, or a guide wire supported at a desired distance above the floor, and a guide comprising a member having spaced limbs or parts adapted to engage on opposite sides of the rail or wire and to guide the club head in its swinging movements while permitting the club head to be moved towards and from the rail or wire in a curved path in order to accommodate the arc of swing, and means for detachably fixing the guide to the club and preventing relative movement between the guide and club. I

The guideway may consist of a guide rail or wire mounted on a platform for the feet, which is conveniently made collapsible and which also forms a means for checking the position of the feet and permitting various stances to be-adopted. The guide should be capable of orientation relative to the guideway so as to allow the club head to turn slightly. The guide rail may be straight or curved downwardly and the wire is preferably spring-loaded.

Two constructional forms of the invention both applied to devices for practicing and teaching putting, are shown, by way of example, on the accompanying drawing, whereon Fig. 1 is a plan view of one device, which comprises a straight guide rail;

Fig. 2 is an end view;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the device, showing one method of guiding the club head along the guide rail;

Fig. 4 is a view at right angles to Fig. 3, showing part only of the club head; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a modified device in which the guide rail is curved downwardly.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4:

The device shown therein, which is for practicing putting, comprises a straight, circular bar or guide rail I, which is pivotally mounted near each of its ends to a pedestal 2, by a screw 2a with its head engaging in a racess in the rail, each of the pedestals being supported upon a metallic strip 3. The two strips extend at an angle to the line of the putt and they are piv otally connected at 4 near their other extremities to another metallic strip 5, the three strips and the guide rail thus forming a collapsible parallelogrammatic linkage which the player can use as a guide for his feet in taking up his stance and for adjusting the position of his stance. An inverted U-shaped member 6 is detach-ably attached to the head of the putter and, for this purpose, it is fixed to a U-clamp the limbs of which are disposed. on opposite sides of the club head 8. The detachable attachment is effected by a screw 9 which is threaded through a hole in one of the limbs of the U-clamp and has a ring end Ill at its outer extremity. The limbs of the inverted U-shaped member 6 partially embrace the guide rail I and the guide thus formed by said member is a sliding fit on the rail. If the club head is swung ofi the true line of the putt, the inverted U-shaped member 5 turns and tends to lock or bind upon the gLL'de rail in one of the other direction, so that the user can readily check whether he is putting off the line and can also correct the position of his hands, until he is swinging properly. The formation of the member 6 also permits the club head to be moved freely,

during the swing in a curved path towards and from the rail I.

The modification shown in Fig. 5 differs only club head, the width of the slots being slightly greater than the diameter of the wire.

A single plate could be used as a guide instead of the inverted U-shaped guide, and could be formed with a slotted hole or open slot adapted to engage the guide rail or the guide wire.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for use in teaching and practicing the correct method of swinging golf clubs, comprising a guide member, means for supporting the guide member at a desired height above the floor, a guide, means for detachably securing the guide to the club head so that the guide is incapable of movement relatively to the club head and club shaft and is maintained in the same position relatively to the club head and shaft at all times throughout the swing, spaced parts on said guide forming at least one opening in the latter in which said guide member can be engaged so that said parts are disposed on opposite sides of said guide member, the distance between parts relative to the thickness of said guide member being such that said guide can slide freely along said guide member. if the club head is moved accurately, the distance between said parts also being such as to resist free sliding movement of said guide if the club head is turned off the line during the swinging movements, and the depth of said opening relatively to the depth of said guide member being such that said guide and the club head can be moved relatively to the guide member in a curved path, in order to accommodate the difierent arcs of swing adopted by different players, while said parts are still disposed on opposite sides of the said guide member, said supporting means including a pillar pivotally secured to the guide member near to each end thereof, a strip connected to each of said pillars, and extending at an angle to said guide member, and a transverse strip pivotally connected to both of the first mentioned strips, whereby said guide member and said strips together form a collapsible parallelogrammatic linkage which the player can use as a guide for his feet in taking up his stance and for adjusting the position of his stance.

2. Apparatus for use in teaching and practicing the correct method of swinging clubs, comprising an elongated guide, supporting means for said guide, a U-shaped club head clamp, and an inverted U-shaped slide fixed at the bight thereof to the bight of said clamp, said slide being disposed with the parallel sides thereof positioned on opposite sides of said guide and at right angles to the sides of said clamp.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein the parallel sides of said slide are of truncated triangular configuration.

. ARTHUR WILLIAM CHAPMAN. 

